Strut for brake-beams



(N0 Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. B. ROBISGHUNG. STRUT Fon BRAKE BEAMS.,

No. 77,883.l Paeted Mar. 2, A1897 (No Model'.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H; BQROBISGHUNG. STRUT POR BRAKE BEAMS. No. 577,883. Y Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

l@13 Matton/w13 M Wmme-aa v l wia who@ lINi'Tnn STATES PATENT Ormea..

HENRY B. ROBISCHUNG, VOF KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE CHICAGO RAILW'AY EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STRUT FOR BRAKE-BEAIVlSf SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 577,883, dated March 2, 1897'.

Serial No. 584,300. (No model.)

` ful Improvements in Posts or Struts for Brake- Beams; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a top plan view of a trussed brake-beam having a strut embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a detached enlarged side View of the strut. Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the strut detached. Fig. 4E is a side View of the box or cage section of the strut, the detachable and reversible centralor lever section being removed. Fig. 5 is a top plan View of the box or cage section of the strut shown in Fig. 4, the lever-section being removed. Fig. 6 is a detached view of the reversible central or lever section of the strut or post. Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the strut or post (cage and lever sections) on the line x a', Fig. 3. Figs. 8 and 9 are side views of the strut or post, showing a modification in the means for securing the detachable reversible lever-section to the cage-section of the strut or post.

Y Like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur.

My invention relates to the construction of struts or posts forbrake-beams in general but has been especially devised for use in the construction of trussed brake-beams, and therefore is herein shown in connection with a trussed brake-beam, though not intended to be limited thereto.

In service a brake-beam, whether a simple beam or a trussed beam structure, may necessarily be operated by either a right or left hand lever, according to the character and arrangement of the brake-rigging, and in the manufacture of the beam provision therefor has to be made, necessitating, under ordinary circumstances, the carrying in stock of numerous patterns and posts or struts for both right and left hand levers. In order to overcome this annoyance and expense, sectional rotatable posts or struts have heretofore been devised, some of which are objectionable, es-

pecially in trussed beams, as necessitating the letting down or dismembering of the truss where readjustment ot' the strut (from right to left, or vice versa) is required after the beam has been set up, and others are more or less objectionable owing to size, weight, and complication of structure, the latter an always undesirable feature in structures, like brake-beams, which are subjected to rough usage and are left in charge of unskilled labor.

The object of the presentinvention is to secure a simple and efficient reversible strut or post which in trussed beams can be changed from right to left, or vice versa, without dismembering the truss structure, and in any beam, whether trussed or otherwise, can be changed by unskilled labor without resort to the shop or to special tools.

To this end the main feature of my invention embraces the combination, in a post or strut for brake-beams, of an outer or cage section and an inner detachable reversible lever section, and suitable means for securing the sections together.

rlhcre are other minor features of invention, all as Vwill hereinafter more fully appear.

In the drawings, Aindicates a beam of any desired construction, with which the leverpost Bis connected in any approved manner. In the present instance, and for purposes of illustration only, the beam selected is a trussed beam wherein a tension rod or member C is combined with the beam A (compression member) and with the post (strut) B by the usual nuts c.

A post B embodying my invention may be constructed as follows, that is to say, of at least two sections, an outer or cage section and an inner or lever section, which when combined and secured are incapable of accidental displacement or of movement with relation'to each other. The outer or cage section l or main casting may, for sake of saving weight, as well as to permit the passage of the brake-lever, be of slotted box form, that is to say, of general rectangular shape, composed ot parallel side pieces or bars 2 2 and a bottom bar 3, connected at one end to a sleeve 4, in case of a tubular or cylindrical beam, or equivalent means for securing the post to the beam. The parallel bars 2 2 may IOM be perforated, as at 2 2, for the passage of bolts IOa 10a, by which the inner or detachable lever-section 7 is secured in position in the cage-section l, and may be notched, as at 2b, to accommodate the end of the fulcrum-pin of the brake-lever. The opposite ends of the parallel bars 2 2 and bottom bar 3 composing the cage B may be connected, and in case of a trussed beam should be provided with a seat or notch 5 for the tension-rod C and a perforated lug or lugs 6 for the attachment of a third suspension-hanger.

7 indicates the removable and reversible included or lever section, which may be a casting of dimensions corresponding with the interior of main casting or cage l, preferably of general rectangular section with parallel bars 8 8, connected above and below and perforated, as at 9 9, for the lever pin or fulcrum, and at 10 10 for the passage of bolts lOa l()n or equivalent means for securing` the leversection to the box or cage section l.

Whatever may be the general form of the cage and the lever-section the parallel bars 8 8, which support the fulcrum-pin, will always be so located that the lever-slot l2 (see Fig. 7) formed thereby will be in a plane which intersects the beam at other than a right angle, and when the lever-section 7 is in position in the cage-section l the lever-slot l2 thereof Will, no matter whether arranged for a right or left hand lever, register with one or other of the lever-slots (constituted by the side bars 2 2 and bottom bar 3) of the cage-section. NVhere, as in the present instance, the post or strut is of substantially rectangular cross-section, (see Fig. 7,) the slot l2 will occupy a diagonal position.

Instead of securing the included or lever section 7 to the cage by bolts lOL l0, one end of the cage (see Figs. 8 and 9) may be provided With an overhanging or projecting lip 13, under which one end of the lever-section is entered, while the opposite end of the leversection is secured to the cage by a single bolt 10a, as in the construction shown in Figs. l to 6. Vhen the overhang or lip 13 is used, it is preferably slightly rounded out to avoid lost motion when the lever-section is in its seat.

rIhe construction being substantially as hereinbefore pointed out, the lever-section 7 is inserted in the cage-section l with the lever-slot l2 in the desired plane to right or left, and said section is then secured to the cage-section by the bolts l0a lOfL or equivalent means. Thereafter When it is desired to change the strut or post from a right to a left hand lever-post, or vice versa, all that is necessary is to remove the bolts 10a 10, withdraw the lever-section 7 from cage l, turn it end for end, replace it in the cage, and again insert the bolts l0 10a, all of which can be readily done without disinembering the beam (if a trussed beam) by unskilled labor7 with ordinary tools, and without resort to the shop.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Let-ters Patent, is-

l. A post or strut for bral ebeams,'com posed of a cage-section, and an included reversible lever-section, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The combination in a post or strut for brake-beams, of a cagesection having parallel side bars and a bottom bar, and a detachable lever-section having parallel bars which form the lever-slot and are perforated for the reception of the fulcrum or lever pin, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. The combination in a post or strut for brake-beams, of a slotted box or cage section and an included detachable and reversible lever-section having a lever-slot which registers with a slot of the cage-section, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

et. A post or strut for brake-beams, composed of a box or cage section and an included detachable lever-section, said sections being substantially rectangular in cross-section, the included section having a diagonally-placed lever-slot, and the cage-section having a slot which registers with the diagonally-placed slot of the included lever-sec tion; substantially as and for the purposes specied.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 19th day of March, 1896.

HENRY B. ROBISCIIUNG.

IVitnesses:

E. B. LEIGH, E. T. VALKER. 

